


Reconnect

by SnowyTheSoft



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Bisexual Leon, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Service Animals, no beta we die like men, slow burn?, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:40:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24343663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyTheSoft/pseuds/SnowyTheSoft
Summary: It wasn't intentional on Leon's part, ending up at a Convenient store because he got lost.  But, sometimes rabbit holes lead to reconnecting with old acquaintances.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 10





	1. Late Night Encounter

Cold air from the inside hit Leon's face, sobering him right up. It was dark, rainy, and ungodly humid despite the time of night it was, so this was a very refreshing feeling once he got over the initial shock. It was one of the few places open this late at night, the Pokemon center being another such thing, but, currently, He had no idea where the hell the Pokemon Center was.

The store itself was small, the walls painted white, shelves of snacks, drinks, assorted items, a fountain and food station, and music played at a very low volume.

"Well... The food looks decent and I haven't eaten so..." he mumbled to himself, adjusting his cape. Seeing as how the store was seemingly empty, he strolled through it, looking at his options for a late-night meal. The roller grill's hotdogs looked to be just freshly put out, and the fountain free of sticky liquids being left in place all day, all cups, lids, and straws stocked up nice and neat. He had not had a slushie in a while, and that green sour apple looked tempting, to say the least.

Looking around suspiciously, when Leon deemed he wasn't being watched or the cameras wouldn't pop out from the bathroom stalls or behind shelves, he began to fill up a large cup and fix up the hot dogs with chili, cheese, Mustard, basically everything that would be giving Oleana and Rose a god damn heart attack if they saw him eating it. Getting to the cash register, he finally took notice, he was... the only one here?

"Uhm... Hello?" he called out curiously, feeling a little uneasy at the seemingly empty store. Tapping his feet and bouncing on his heels, he waited, they must be working in the back and hadn't heard a customer come in? Then he heard the sound of squeaky wheels sliding on the tiled floor. The source was a woman, around his age in the uniform of the store and black jeans, pushing a trash cart around with cleaning supplies. Her hair, which was black with mint highlights, was in a messy bun. What stood out to him were the violet eyes, why did she look so incredibly familiar to Leon? As much as his mind tried to make a connection, he just couldn't put a name to her face. She finally looked up from the cart, to see Leon standing there, looking at her with a curious head tilt.

"Oh... I'm sorry, I was in the fridge stocking our cold coffees, let me check you out right now" her voice was soft and low in volume. She slipped behind the checkout, getting to her register where he was at, and began to scan the items and input the numbers on the computer. His eyes lingered on her face, still trying to rack in his mind just why he recognized her at all.

_ "Fan meeting?? No... Not that, Interview? Internet? Raihan's Pokagram??? Maybe?" _

"Do you have a membership card with us?" she pulled him from his thoughts with her question.

"Huh?? Oh, no, I don't" sheepishly, Leon laughed while waving a hand to his answer.

"Would you like one?"

"Oh, no thanks, this is my first time here and I got a bit lost, and I haven't had dinner" he laughed a little, face growing hot from embarrassment, he could hear Raihan cackling at his expense even now. He heard the woman give a soft, amused snort.

"Where are you headin?" She finished scanning his items.

"The Rose Cup Pokemon center, I know my way from there but uh..."

"Oh wow, I thought that was just a rumor you were bad with directions... You're on the other side of town hon" well if he didn't want the earth to swallow him whole before, he sure did now.

"Oh... Well then..."

"You want me to call you a Taxi? better than trying to walk from here, and it's pretty late, never know who or what might not be safe"

"That... Would be appreciated" sure, he could do it himself, if he knew the address of this place he would at least. Pulling his card out, he paid for his food as the woman grabbed the phone of the store and made a call.

"Hey Matt, yeah, can you come down here? Oh, no one is pissin' in the parking lot drunk, just someone who doesn't know the area well and needs a lift, an hour? thanks" she put the phone back.

"My older brother is a Corvitaxi driver, said he'd come to get you, but he'd be an hour if that's no trouble?"

"Well, I'd be wasting more than that trying to find the Rose cup on my own so..." he rubbed the back of his head.

"Uhm... Leon..." he introduced.

"The Champion, right?" it was rather strange how casual she was about him being here, even his family was a little more on the enthusiastic side.

"Yeah, that one" she merely nodded to him.

"Aliza" just like a vase being violently smashed to the floor, a few memories came back to him.

"Aliza... Didn't we take the gym challenge together?" internalized thoughts? Leon never heard of it as she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"We were in the same gym challenge, yes, but we didn't take it "together" you had your mates Sonia and Raihan with you"

"Right, Right, my bad, still, you kinda disappeared after..."

"I got my shit rocked in the Semi-finals by Milo right?" he winced at her frankness.

"Yeah, that was a pretty close match from what I remember" she merely gave him a shrug.

"he still beat me out, but sometimes you have people better at something than you, and you're better at things then they are, you know?" She was casual as she began to stock the tobacco products.

"Yeah, what have you been up to since then?" he knew he should leave the woman alone, but he was a Meowth with the name Curiosity.

"Mostly School, to be honest, Pokemon battling was fun and whatnot, but, it wasn't exactly for me, but, I did find that training them and learning how they can help us outside of sports is a calling for me, so I'm currently in school to get my certifications to become a Service trainer" she finished one row before turning around.

"Service training huh? What does that entail?" he had found a chair and table to eat his dinner as she was cleaning the counters down.

"Learning what Pokemon are best suited for what jobs and learning how to train them to hone certain skills, for instance, Pokemon best suited for those with PTSD or anxiety are big and soft ones, like Arcanine because you can hug onto them without causing them much pain, Ninetails have a soothing aura about them for this as well, and Dragon types are very good for services to prevent crashes and Seizures, they can smell the change in humans and can alert them before it happens" now she had a bit a smile, happy someone had some interest in her choice of degree.

"Huh... I bet Raihan would be interested in that last bit"

"I'm currently doing a training course for my finals, Meaning I chose to breed and train a Jangmo-O for seizure detections, she's doing a great job so far and hopefully I can get beyond a passing grade for the work"

"And this job?" Leon asked her and she rubbed the back of her head.

"Well, gotta help my bro pay rent, you know? he was cool enough to give me a more stable home than what we had with our parents" Leon felt his face heat up as he gave her an apologetic look, scratching his cheek.

"Oh uh, I overstep there?" she asked, looking away awkwardly herself now.

"I mean, my question was a bit out of line I think, sorry" he chuckled out himself. He tossed his trash into the bin.

"Still, sounds like you're happy, don't usually run into many gym challengers years later you know?"

"I mean, you work with most of the ones who were part of yours and mine" she pointed out to him.

"Ah... fair enough" before he could answer anymore, he heard the door open and a man, nearing his 30's with turquoise hair under his aviation hat entered.

"Alright Sis, where's the guy I gotta- Oh... Well then... Good evening Champion Leon" he said with a wave, Leon just nervously laughed, waving back.

"Leon, this is my big brother Mathias, Matt? Leon"

"I know who Leon is 'Liza... You get your coffee in stock?"

"Yep, I even ordered extra of the Caramel Frappes you like so much, so go ahead and get your coffee and I'll put in my discount for ya and then you go ahead and take the big guy back," she told him, putting in an employee discount code as he came back with three boxes worth of the drink.

"Just remember to lock these up to where Saphy and Penelope can't get to them, Matt"

"Trust me, the last thing I want is wired up toddlers running around, her mother and you would kill me" he laughed as he paid for his order. Well, that stood out a little bit to Leon at least. Aliza winked with a bit of a wave.

"Our Daughters, they're with his ex-wife tonight" well, Leon blinked again.

"Oh, didn't know you had a kid too"

"I mean, that is a bit more personal to bring up when we were alone"

"Again, Fair"

"Welp, you ready to go? Where are you going anyway?" Matt asked as he grabbed his boxes of sweet milky coffee.

"Back to my flat, it's a bit closer to the Rose cup..."

"...You're on the other side of town...Wow I thought that was just some cockamamy internet rumor that you were bad with directions"

"No...No even my own little brother points out I'm pants at directions" he pulled his cap over his face now that he was blushing. He nodded to Aliza and followed the man out to his Taxi car, ready to go home for the night.


	2. Late Night Discussions

"Welp, Raihan indeed laughed at me like a maniac today" Leon stated as he leaned against the counter.

"I mean if my friend told me they wound up on the other side of their destination, I'd be laughing too" she stated, smiling a bit.

"Why didn't you use your phone for directions?"

"Would you believe me if I said the voice on the GPS makes me unreasonably mad?"

"Ah, yeah the voice does sound like a smarmy and judgy fuck doesn't it?" she collected the trash from the bins to put in the cart. Taking a sip of his drink, Leon thought for a second.

"So... you're a mother then, married or dating?" she stopped for a moment, before continuing her work.

"Single actually, Penelope's dad's a pretty useless guy, in all honesty, left her in her own filth for hours on end and I was dealing with a bloodied rashes, even now he doesn't pay child support, but, that does prevent him from visitations so, I don't mind"

"Ouch... I kinda relate to that, my mum was the breadwinner when my dad had been laid off, but, instead of acting like a stay at home parent, he just dumped my little brother onto me so he could go drink and watch TV all day, mum threw his ass to the curb when I accidentally triggered an allergic reaction in him that wound up needing emergency care, Gran had to make that call because I called her in a panic"

"... Okay, your old man's real damn lucky your ma didn't murder him flat out for that one"

"Oh trust me, Kabu almost allowed her to, haven't seen him since then" Leon said with an awkward chuckle.

"you miss him at all?"

"Only when I forget he almost let my little brother die as a baby, which is never, funny how traumatic experiences work"

"Fair enough, Matt's Ex has been a Godsend for us both" she said with a laugh.

"Yeah kinda curious about that one, I'm not used to... uh..."

"Healthy and amicable divorces?"

"Yeah"

"Well, Matt and Beth were basically pressured to get married and have a kid? turns out, not for them really and they were fighting and miserable, so, they just broke it off and have joint custody, our parents are still pissed off about it because they wanted more grandbabies"

"but they have two?" Aliza let out a loud laugh when he said that.

"I'm not allowing my child near them after the way they reacted to me being pregnant" well that made him a little uncomfortable.

"I uh... How old is your daughter?"

"She's four, I was eighteen, unmarried, just graduated high school, so... they weren't happy and made an ultimatum, I keep her and get the fuck out, or I get rid of her and stay with them, so, I walked and haven't looked back since"

"They didn't tell him to marry you?"

"As shitty as they were about me being pregnant, they realized before I did he wasn't a very choice option as a partner at the time, even now he's not, but that's neither here nor there"

"Oh, so the whole Gold bar in a trash can analogy" Aliza looked at Leon and did a slow blink at his comment.

"The...The WHAT?"

"If you find a gold bar in a trash can, do you take the trash can or just the gold bar? Or, you took the one good piece of advice from your parents, but they usually spew out trash and garbage" staring at him, Aliza began to snicker, before it turned into full-blown snorting and laughter. Doubling over, she wiped her eyes as her laughter died back down into snorts and giggles.

"Okay, okay that is a very good and perfect analogy regarding them" she laughed. 

"Anyway, sounds like your brother's Ex is a pretty nice person"

"Oh she is, and I appreciate that she's basically taken care of overnight care for my daughter while I work or take my classes, I've offered her money, but she said she'd only accept payment if I was just taking a night to go out, but, having two girls around the same age does make it easier in terms of entertaining them because they can play together while you work" she smiled.

"Actually... Yeah Mum said the same thing when Gran and Pops started having our neighbor's kids over when Hop was a little kid, was easier because he had someone to play with instead of needing constant attention, and I vaguely remember being with Sonia pretty often when I was growing up, probably the same reason"

"Just makes it easier when you have work you need to do, TV does too, usually when I have a virtual class that I need to do, I just put on a couple of movies and get them snacks, it sounds horrible to a lot of people but, sometimes you gotta make due" she said with a shrug.

"I mean, you're not ignoring them for the sake of ignoring them, you're working" he said.

"Exactly! And don't get me wrong, Matt helps, but he does work pretty often as does Beth, and Four-year-olds are easier to take care of than infants, they'll be in school next year, which can't come soon enough" she laughed.

"Wait, aren't they old enough to be in preschool?"

"They are in Preschool, but I'm usually in bed by then so Matt takes them to and I pick them up and since he earns more than I do, I don't expect him to work around my schedule" she explained.

"So... how do you, well... you know?"

"I get home at 3:15 AM and school for them starts at 9 AM and is only four hours and I pick them up at 1:10, I wake up at 11:30 and I do my school work from 2 to 5, then I go to work at 10 PM, on weeks Beth has the girls, I do more of my classes then" she explained to him.

"Huh, sounds like a pretty busy day to me"

"It is, Which when they start school, I'll be rearranging my schedule to work on days they're at school and pick them up after, granted by then I should be hands-on training in the field of my career"

"Oh, so you're already graduating?"

"Half a year from now, I started when she was near two years old and this is a two to three-year program" she smiled.

"I'm already breeder certified, but that's because I passed the exam without going to school, so if I wanted to, I could realistically start my own business once I get this certification, but, I want to learn on the job before considering that Option" she stopped for a minute.

"Am I talking too much?" she asked, rubbing her neck.

"Oh, no, not at all, I've been asking questions and honestly find this stuff pretty interesting, even if I don't fully understand it" he stated, waving his arms.

"Though... would you feel weird if I asked if I can see photos of your kid?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Not really? Chie, my manager, always asks to see new photos of the girls when she sees me"

"Yeah but... Most people get iffy when a man asks..?" he mumbled out, blushing a bit.

"Oh, you're worried I'd find it creepy then?"

"Kinda yeah?"

"I mean... You kinda came back to my store at night when I'm alone, so..."

"...I didn't even think about that" now he felt even more embarrassed while she pulled her phone out and showed him some photos of her with two little girls. She pointed to one with white and mint hair and more red-violet eyes, wearing a yellow hair bow.

"This is my daughter Penelope here"

"Oh, she's cute!" he said smiling.

"And this is your brother's kid?" he pointed to the girl with deep blue hair and violet eyes.

"Yep, her hair is why they named her Sapphiria, or Saphy for short" she grinned. Reaching into his pocket, Leon pulled his phone out, showing her Photos of him and Hop when they were at the amusement park.

"This is my little brother Hop"

"Cute kid, I can tell you share some strong genes with someone in your family" she laughed.

"Oh yeah, Mum for sure" he said, swiping at a photo of the three of them.

"Is he a trainer too?" she asked.

"Not yet, he's got a Wooloo, yeah, but Mum hasn't gotten him his trainers license yet, I planned to visit him and his friends this upcoming Gym Season to give them Pokemon, though I'm a little worried, Mum's told me he's going to ask me to endorse him for the gym challenge" he frowned a little putting his phone away,

"And you're more or less worried about him even if he shows capability, right?" she asked.

"Well, not much for him to show as Mum won't let him train Wooloo much, I'm just worried he's going to self-sabotage and set his own expectations too high and get depressed when he doesn't meet them"

"I mean, sometimes you gotta let people fail to let them grow, you know?" she asked and he scratched the back of his neck.

"You're not wrong, it's just... kinda hard to think about letting that happen when I remember the little boy who always crawled into my bed because he felt safe with me" she nodded.

"Yeah, I may be preaching to you to let him try, but, I haven't quite dealt with what you're talking about, I still got a good 6 to 5 years left on that end myself" she took a drink of her water.

"I also just worry about it being blatant Favoritism on my part, given my being Champion" she took a long swig of her beverage at that before looking at him.

"From what I know of Celebrity or "influential" kids? chances are someone else is going to learn he's your brother and just hand it to him without any effort on his part" that made Leon think for a moment.

"Mum did mention nearly ripping his Principle's head off because they wanted to just give him the school endorsement... She didn't tell Hop though, he might have gotten upset without realizing why she got so mad about it"

"And the schools only give those out to the Top 3 Graduates, that's how I got mine and that's kind of my point" she told him, it did give him something to think about.

"I guess I'll just have to see about the idea of it when I see him and his friends" he didn't have the answers to everything and he was starting to realize, that not being certain of the future and what it holds was okay.  



	3. Texting buddies

"Hey, can we exchange our numbers?" Aliza looked up from cleaning the fountain drink area upon Leon’s question.

"hm??? How come?" at least Leon looked a little flustered at her question with a bit of a cheesy grin.

"Well, I don't mind visiting you when you're working but I don't think you work here every night, right? Wouldn't want to spook your co workers"

"Ah, fair enough, though I wouldn’t say spook more than swoon, some of them are pretty big fans of yours and talk about how hot they think you are”

“Flattering, you join in on that?”

“I mean, you’re attractive but I also remember seeing you eating bugs in the wild area when you got pranked, so that’s a pretty good way to not look sexually appealing to a girl” Leon laughed at that response, pulling his phone out.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind, anyway, contact info?”

\---

Phone pinging, Leon checked it, seeing that Aliza had sent him a Photo of the Jangmo-O, proudly wearing a Blue vest.

ChocoMint4MePlz: Guess who graduated to Service Pokemon!

PurpleCharFan01: 8O Already?

ChocoMint4MePlz: Yup! She was following another service Mon and she passed the test! I'm getting closer to my certification"

PurpleCharFan01: So what happens to Jango then?

ChocoMint4MePlz: Well since she was bred from my own personal Pokemon, I get the call on who she goes to and there's a boy out in Circhester whose parents put in for a request for such a Pokemon and if possible "A cool looking one" so now I get to do teach them how to handle her and all that.

PurpleCharFan01: That's great! Do you feel accomplished?

ChocoMint4MePlz: Damn straight I do!

PurpleCharFan01: Awesome! Speaking of, turns out one of my little brother’s friends has an anxiety service Pokemon, they’re a Leafeon, does that affect their Pokemon count as a trainer by chance?

ChocoMint4MePlz: No, a service Pokemon is registered as a none battler and therefore doesn’t count as one of the 6 you can have on a team, you should see they have their own specialized Pokeball for that.

PurpleCharFan01: I did actually, it had a White Top with a blue star outline with a pink one on the inside of it with a black bottom?

ChocoMint4MePlz: That’s indeed a therapy and anxiety Pokeball, but yeah let him know since they’re not meant for battle, there’s no reason it counts towards their Pokemon trainer team

PurpleCharFan01: Thanks, I’ll let him know then!

"Who're you talking to Lee? You're smiling a lot" Hop said, getting his brother's attention. Jolting, Leon put his phone away.

"Just a friend Hop" he laughed, Hop did not give him a remotely believing look.

"Uh-huh, you get back together with your Ex?" he asked, Leon winced.

"No Hop, I didn't get back together with Piers, he's got a new boyfriend"

"Oh, dating someone else then? Oh, will we get to meet them this time?" he was about to bounce himself off the couch, Scorbunny sleeping comfortably on his lap. Leon just gave a small hum and bemused look to his brother before putting a hand on his back, settling him into sitting back down.

"Hop I'm not dating, I promise, it's just an old friend from my time as a gym Challenger, ran into them at their convenient store" he said with a wave of his hand.

“Oh! So, someone, you haven’t seen since then? Are they a super strong trainer then?” he inquired again. Smiling, Leon ruffled Hop’s hair. 

“Yes actually, just not for battling, but what they do isn’t anything to sneeze at either Hop”

“What’s that mean?”

“Well… They work with Pokemon and make it so they can help people live easier lives”

“Oh, Like Corvitaxis and Mum’s Arcanine?” Hop was looking at Leon with curious eyes.

“Sort of, but think more on the medical side of it and helping less abled people and preventing them from getting really sick or hurt, like Vic’s Leafeon” Hop had an O shaped mouth but seemed to nod in understanding now as he settled back against the couch and continued to watch the movie. It was nice to come home and just enjoy his family’s company, Leon realized, especially when visits were such a rarity for him nowadays. Hop had been raving about this movie when the two have been on call, so it was even nicer to sit down and watch it with his little brother, well, so he thought. 

Hop was starting to doze off halfway through the movie, only forcing himself to stay awake when he felt himself moving forward. Looking at him, Leon offered a soft smile to his brother and wrapped his arm around Him, who leaned against him, taking the blanket and curling into it. Scorbunny also seemed to move and find themself curling up in Leon’s lap who did a hush motion to the young Pokemon.

“It’s late, let your new trainer get his sleep” he told them, Scorbunny merely yawned and dozed off on his lap. Soon, he felt Hop's Weight press full on against his side as sleep finally overtook him.

"Goodnight Hop" he got a soft yawn and his brother curled up closer in response. This left him in his thoughts. He reached for his phone again, looking at messages again, continuing his conversation with Aliza.

\---

"So Aliza, I see you've got a new nighttime friend" A much older woman said to her with a bit of a smile as she put her things in the locker in the back room.

“New night friend?” she asked with a slight blink.

“You know, our Region’s beloved Champion, you two look to have quite the time when he visits you know” the woman wriggled her eyebrows at her employee who now looked like she swallowed a Tympole.

"O-Oh... So you saw that Miss Chie..." she rubbed the back of her head. Chie put a finger to her lips with a smile.

"No worries, it's a safe secret with me, you just continue keeping the store clean and ready for when I take over" she told her with a wink. Giving her a grateful smile, Aliza nodded to her.

"Of course I will, thank you Miss Chie, I'm going to clock out now"

"Of course dear, go home and get your sleep, I’ll be checking inventory before unlocking the doors for everyone after I lock up behind you" Chie stated with a polite wave, giving Aliza the sign she was free to go now. Heading out of the locker room, Aliza made her way to the office to log into the computer, almost dragging her feet. Sitting hard into the chair, she let out a long and loud yawn, lips smacking as she entered her work password and ID. With a few button clicks, she was clocked and logged out.

"Mm... yeah it's Beth's weekend to have the girls.. Thank Goodness, I'm so tired" she said to herself as she put her coat on and unlocked the store door. She saw waiting outside, was her ride home. 

“You have a good night now Aliza!” Chie told her as she locked up behind her. Aliza waved to the Corvitaxi driver.

“Hey Rick” she mumbled tiredly.

"Hey there yourself Aliza, you just wanna go straight home I take it?" the driver told her as she opened the cab door.

"Yeah, I can eat when I get home or when I wake up Rick, either or" she answered with a yawn as she got into the cab. Purse sitting on her lap, she looked out the window tiredly, letting her mind wander. Summer was practically here tomorrow, which meant vacation for her own classes as well, and trainers were going to be running amuck.

"Mm... The girls wanted to see the gym challenge in person this year, right?" she asked herself, remembering her brother saying he had purchased some tickets at a discount because of his job.

"It would be nice to watch them in person, haven't been up close at a battle since I was a kid... Will need to work with Bath and Matt about activities the girls can do" she continued to herself.

"Wonder how Leon would react to that...Wait" she sat up, rubbing her head.

"Why would he have any reaction? that's normal as shit for people to do..." and as that thought came to a close, they arrived at the flat and she got out, sending payment on her phone and fished her apartment key out. Finding her keychain and going to her door, she turned around and waved to the driver.

"Have a good rest of the night Rick!"

"Night Aliza!" and the driver began to have his Corviknight fly off as she unlocked her door, entering with a practiced silence. Sighing, she put her coat on the rack with her purse and made her way to her bedroom.

"Sweet relief" she mumbled, stripping down to all but her tank top and crashing right onto the bed and into the sweet bliss called sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Mhm, I'm writing this honestly because I wanted to try my hand at Leon/OC.  
> Also Like, Pokemon, come on, explore your series and creatures more, please.


End file.
